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Episode 5: Polarized
Note: This page contains spoilers for the currently released episode. Polarized is the fifth Episode of Life Is Strange. It is available on PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One. Release It was launched on 20th October 2015, almost 3 months after Episode 4: Dark Room. There have been uploaded 6 teaser trailers for Episode 5 and one day before, 19th October, the official date trailer was uploaded. Content Max learns that time is impossible to control and that her power carries many consequences as she moves inexorably towards the most agonizing decision of her life. Arcadia Bay, meanwhile, is preparing to weather a huge storm as Life is Strange comes to a gripping and gut wrenching conclusion. Summary Max is held captive inside the bunker with Mark Jefferson, but by using her powers, she manages to escape into a photograph. Emerging back at the beginning in Jefferson's class, it is made possible for her to inform David Madsen of her kidnapper's identity—Jefferson is caught, Chloe is rescued and Max is afforded the opportunity to go to San Francisco and have one of her photos displayed in an art gallery. She calls Chloe from the event, realizing that, for all her effort, the storm is still in existence as it reaches Arcadia Bay. Max teleports to the time she took the gallery photo, which eventually leads her to sojourn alternative realities as they devolve into a dreamscape nightmare. By the story's end, Max arrives at the lighthouse with Chloe. They confront the fact that Max brought the approaching super storm into existence by availing herself of the time travel abilities in the first place. Max must make a final choice, sacrifice Chloe's life in order to save Arcadia Bay, or leave Arcadia Bay in ruins to prevent Chloe's demise. As the storm edges closer towards Arcadia Bay, Max faces off against an unexpected enemy. Main Choices In Polarized, the only major choice to do is to make a final sacrifice between saving Chloe and allowing Arcadia Bay to be destroyed, along with your friends and all its residents being killed, or saving Arcadia Bay and sacrificing Chloe by allowing her to die in the bathroom in order to prevent the tornado from occurring and thus sparing the town. Note, these are also the choices which cannot be rewinded except focusing on the photo before the time Chloe died. * Sacrifice Arcadia Bay — 45% of players refused to allow Chloe to be sacrificed for the sake of preserving Arcadia Bay, and accepted the disastrous tornado produced by Max's time traveling. As a result, the two best friends survive the tornado that leaves the town in ruins and kills many, if not majority of its residents. In the aftermath of the destruction, Chloe and Max are seen driving through the town to witness the damage, before leaving Arcadia Bay together to an unknown destination. * Sacrifice Chloe — 55% of players chose to accept Chloe's fate of dying in the bathroom at the hands of Nathan. Max travels back in time and does not interfere in Chloe's confrontation with Nathan. Later, Nathan is arrested for the death of Chloe, and while being interrogated, confesses about his affiliation with Mark Jefferson, the Dark Room, and Rachel Amber's disappearance, to that of which also results in Jefferson's incarceration. Through Chloe's sacrifice, justice has been served, and the destruction of Arcadia Bay and the death of its residents has also been averted. Shortly after, Max attends Chloe's funeral and witnesses a blue butterfly landing on the casket. Deaths * Nathan Prescott - (Determinant) 'Mark Jefferson mentions that he murdered Nathan and plans to pin his murders on him. However this is changed after Max warns Chloe in the past. He is arrested at the end for the murder of Chloe if Max chooses to sacrifice her in order to save Arcadia Bay. * Victoria Chase - '(Determinant) If Max warns Victoria about Nathan in the previous episode, she will go to Mr. Jefferson who will capture her. Later, after Max returns to the dark room, Mr. Jefferson will reveal that he killed Victoria because he believes that she's where she should be. She is seen alive during Chloe's funerals if Max chooses to save Arcadia Bay's population. * Mark Jefferson - (Determinant) In the original timeline if Max tells David that Mark murdered Chloe, David will execute him. However this is changed after Max warns Chloe in the past. * The Trucker - (Determinant) 'If Max doesn't help the trucker out from under his truck he will remain crushed underneath it. * Evan Harris - '(Determinant) 'If Max waits too long, Evan will be too distracted by the storm and a metal visor will take him out. * Alyssa Anderson - '(Determinant) 'If Max did not save Alyssa in more than 3 episodes and Max talks to her, she will back away from Max and will fall into a hole in the floor of her apartment. * The Fisherman - '(Determinant) '- Max will accidentally electrocute the fisherman to death in order to get past the fire, and if Max leaves without rewinding and warning him, he will stay that way. * Officer Berry - Officer Berry can be seen crushed under a police car outside the diner. * The Homeless Woman - '(Determinant) 'If Max chooses not to warn the homeless woman about the storm in Episode 3, she will be crushed by the dumpster. * Chloe Price - '(Determinant) If Max chooses to go back to the day she stopped Nathan from shooting Chloe and allow him to do so, Max will prevent the storm from happening and consequently will save Arcadia Bay's population. * Warren Graham, Joyce Price, Frank Bowers, Pompidou and an unnamed man - (Pre-Rewind) They die in a gas explosion in the diner. Max needs to prevent that by rewinding, so that she can get Warren's photo. * All of Arcadia Bay's population - (Presumed, Determinant) If Max chooses not to sacrifice Chloe, then the storm destroys Arcadia Bay and presumably kills everyone except Max and Chloe. Walkthrough This passage is supposed to give you detailed information on the episode. After the events of the previous episode, Max finds herself again in the Dark Room, tied to a chair. If you warned Victoria at the End Of The World Party, she will be lying dosed on the floor next to Max. There will be a trolley with lots of things, like syringes, photos, and water. First, detach your right feet, and pull it to you. After focusing on the photo, Max will wake up with hands tied, lying on the floor, with Jefferson taking pictures of her. He is angry because she moves too much, and will prepare another dose to calm her. Max kicks the trolley, and spills water on the photos he took, causing him to take others. The focus ends, and she is back again. Now, there are other photos due to what she did. In one of them, she is conscious. Max focuses on it, and you'll have a dialogue with Jefferson, where he will explain why he's doing this, among with Nathan's involvement and Rachel's death. While he is going to develop the shots in the computer, Max catches sight of her diary. Max rewinds time and asks Jefferson about it. He says that the selfies are waste of talent, and will throw the open diary right in front of Max in the chair. Focus on it, and you'll be back to the Art Class in Episode 1. At this point, Jefferson has no idea that she is aware of the Dark Room. Max, who has lived an entire week, can comfort Kate, making sure she will not attempt suicide, and confront Victoria about Kate's video. Max texts David (you'll need to search for his number in Blackwell's Phone List, inside Max's bag), telling him everything about Jefferson, Rachel, and the Dark Room, and delete the message from her phone right after sending it, for security purposes. Then, she enters her photo-memorial selfie for the Everyday Heroes Contest, to make it easy ''to ''capture ''Jefferson. When the focus closes, a slideshow of pictures shows all the original events being rewritten. The Dark Room is invaded by David and the police, Jefferson is arrested in school, the police discover Rachel's body in the Junkyard, and Max wins the contest. The last picture shows her with Chloe, alive, in her room in Blackwell. Max wakes up inside a plane flying to San Francisco, with Principal Wells sleeping in the seat next to her. Looking at the blur outside of the window, she realizes that she is ''still in a focus between realities. Due to the many photo-jumps in a short space of time, she has a nosebleed similar to Episode 2, when she rewinded too much in the shooting session with Chloe and by freezing time trying to save Kate. See here for diary entries and messages from this episode. Unresolved Issues and Open Questions There are many ideas developed throughout the season that weren't resolved in the final episode and a lot of questions remaining unanswered. Please add your thoughts here. * If Max created the Storm by messing with time, changing the course of everything and jumping into alternative realities, why did ''she get the powers in the first place? * What about the mystery surrounding Pan Estates and the allusions to Native Americans and their spiritual culture presented throughout? * What about Samuel and his mysterious behaviour, talking about spirit animals and a non-scientific explanation for the strange phenomena at Arcadia Bay? * What was the purpose of the somewhat mystical Doe seen throughout the episodes? * Who is Twilight Zone? * It is only shown in the game that the street that the Two Whales Diner was in was mostly destroyed by the storm in Sacrifice Arcadia Bay ending, as most of the buildings there are made of wood. It is unclear that the Blackwell Academy, a brick building, is destroyed by the storm as well. Theories and Interpretations Theories and Speculation * It's possible that the people in the Two Whales Diner, Warren, Joyce, Frank, and Pompidou, are still alive. In the ending where Arcadia Bay is sacrificed, as Max and Chloe drive through the town, they pass the diner which is still standing. However, in the other timeline it exploded without Max's intervention, which was due to an oil fire from Frank's RV. But that could also depend on whether Max killed Frank in the previous episode. * It's very likely that Kate survived the Storm in the Sacrifice Arcadia Bay ending, as she actually planned to leave the town on Friday morning with her parents from the hospital after her suicide attempt, so she isn't there when the storm hits. * David may have also survived if Chloe is spared by the player, as during the storm he tracks down Jefferson in the Dark Room (with or without policemen). So he may have survived, being safe in the Dark Room underground. * It's unknown if indeed all residents of Arcadia Bay die in the Sacrifice Arcadia Bay ending, although we have seen a lot of deaths that are determined without Max's intervention. A document in the Prescott BarnIt says that that the Prescotts brought "a bomb shelter boom to town". indicates that there are a lot of bunkers all over the town. * It's unclear whether Max just changes reality or actually creates new timelines that run and exist parallel to each other, everytime she rewinds and changes the past. If all created timelines after her final choice of Sacrificing Chloe still exist it would've been senseless, and more a personal decision for Max regarding in what kind of world she would like to live - a world with her best friend and great love Chloe, or a world where Arcadia Bay and all her friends are still save. It would also mean that the Chloe we met before the final decision could still leave Arcadia Bay with her Max regardless of original Max's choice. * It's possible that fate may attempt to correct Chloe's death once again after their leaving town in the Sacrifice Arcadia Bay ending, as Chloe is meant to die and the Storm destructing of Arcadia Bay was just the first big anomaly to face. * Max's Nightmare represents her emotional reliving of all experiences in the last five days in an exxaggerated form, including her fears and trauma regarding the Dark Room Investigation, her feelings of guilt regarding her actions throughout the game, the alternative reality with William alive and the fate of everyone at Arcadia Bay and self-doubts, but especially also the precious time she spent with Chloe depicted in its key moments. * It's possible that Victoria is safe and sound with the principal in San Fancisco, cause if not Max, she would be the winner of Everyday Heroes Photo Contest. Interpretation * The final decision of either sacrificing Chloe or Arcadia Bay represents the popular ethical trolley dilemma (the interest/life of one vs. the interest/life of many) and that final situation is all about making the right decision in front of moral conflicts and own desires as depicted in Max's nightmare. That would make Life is Strange all about the morality of time travel or rather life itself, and whether you can take responsibility for your decisions and bear their consequences; whether you're a "Moral Avenger" or a "Self-Righteous Hypocrite"Max in "Chaos Theory". * One theory says that Max got her powers through the Blue Butterfly and the real purpose of that power is to let Max enjoy her time with Chloe and say everything she has to say before Chloe dies. It was not really intended for her to save lives nor change the course of the future. Life is Strange is about the human desire for reversing your mistakes and having a second chance, just a little bit more time; to make up for what you didn't do, to tell the people you love the most what you've always wanted but wasn't able to, to help them, and to spend more time with them. It teaches us to treasure the people we love and to spend the time we have with them wisely before it could be too late, before we could be left filled with regret for the rest of our lives; like Max would've been after finding out her best friend she abondoned for 5 years was suddenly dead and she never reached for her in that bathroom. Furthermore, it confronts us with the question: ''What are you willing to pay for the person you love? Would you really do anything, sacrifrice everything for that person? The game actually pushes you to that extent, from taking one risk after another, investing in everything, and finally taking the immense cost of hundreds of people dying just for the one person you love the most and would do anything for. [3] **Earlier in the episode, Max reveals that she always wanted her life to be special, an adventure, but never without Chloe by her side. So it's possible that before Chloe died, Max was granted her childhood dream, and the adventure is what you make of it; running from death, keeping a doomed friend safe, saving the town, finding out what has happened to Rachel Amber and all the other girls. That adventure ended when she fixed time at the end by letting Chloe die and so she probably also lost her powers in that moment. Trivia * The title 'Polarized' is a clever reference to the final choice. If something is 'polarized', it means there's two massively conflicting points. In this case, it's the desire to save Chloe or save the town. The two choices conflict the huge emotional bond the player (likely) formed with Chloe and the fact her survival will kill hundreds more. * The title also can refer to a particular type of photography filter which refines light generally for the purpose of increasing contrast or reducing distractions like glare. This could be a metaphor for Max's maturing views on her power and her situation. * The title also can refer to Max's camera "Polaroid 1200si" . References Category:Life Is Strange Category:Episodes Category:Article stubs